It is absolutely vital that the hospital CEO be actively involved. The CEO will need to support the sales effort and hold the Managers, Directors, VPs, and O’s responsible for taking action on issues that are presented.
In addition to the CEO, the program needs strong support from the rest of hospital administration. This must be viewed as an opportunity and be used as a catalyst to improve relations with physicians in all areas of the hospital. There must be sensitivity to critical issues as perceived by the medical staff. Many of the “issues” that will be brought up may be insignificant to clinical Directors; however they must take them seriously. The only reality must be the physician’s reality.
As an organization, they must make a commitment to communication throughout the entire organization. This canbe done via meetings, online tracking, logs, phone calls, and possibly even an internal newsletter. They must communicate with each other about successes and failures to improve across the entire facility.
The final precursor for success is that the Liaison must be perceived as someone that can make a difference. What does this mean? If the Liaison is the candy queen or just a pretty face that makes social visits to the doctor’s offices, the physicians will soon figure this out. They won’t take the time to bring issues to this person. In time, the Liaison will be the person that fills the candy jar, buys lunch, and brings over forms. That is not the intention of a sales program. The Liaison must be able to address serious issues and show the physicians that through communicating with them, issues can and will be resolved.

Sep
18
2009